Great Expectations
by ms. s. peverell
Summary: A story about Albus facing the expectations he encounters for being Harry's son as he tries out for the Quidditch team.


**I hope you appreciate references to canon, the characters of my invention, and my use of colloquialisms (mad skills, anyone?)! **

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><p>"Hey dud," James said to Albus, "coming to try out for the team? Well, since I'm family, I have to be extra hard on you. I'll have your knees knocking when I send bludgers your way when we scrimmage."<p>

"Oi," Teddy yelled, and conked James on the back of the head. "Leave your poor brother be. Besides, I heard from your dad that he's got mad skills."

"What, are you here to keep the peace, Teddy?"

"Yes, and I am captain, so you had better be mindful of how you treat your teammates, and me, because respect counts for more than skill on my team!"

"Right, right, because respect was most important when you knocked that Ravenclaw off his broom last year.:

"He started the disrespect, he provoked me by talking about the 'puny third year' who couldn't hit a bludger if he tried," Teddy replied smartly.

"Okay, fair enough. Albus didn't provoke me, but he still deserved it."

"And how is that?"

"He's my brother. I've got to teach him how to be tough."

"I'm sure he can manage without your help," Teddy said as they neared the pitch. "You two get onto the field, I can't show any favouritism."

James and Albus hoisted their brooms over their shoulders and marched to the centre together, James always trying to get a one step advantage over Albus to maintain the appearance of authority over Albus.

"And James, don't forget that you only made the team last year thanks to an unfortunate injury," Teddy called after them as he went to the equipment room to get the Quidditch chest.

Albus couldn't help but smirk at this, but at the same time could not rid himself of the nagging feeling of nervousness. He wanted to live up to the expectations of his father, who had made the team in his first year, and his mother, a professional Quidditch player. He now doubted his abilities more than he had during the summer and wondered how he had any chance of making the team. Just today, he had received a letter of encouragement from his parents, but Albus wondered if it was even worth trying out if he didn't make it. And to add to his anxieties, James was always antagonizing him and making him uncomfortable.

"Alright," Teddy yelled to the gathering of players, "we're hoping for a strong team this year to counter Slytherin's Quidditch Cup last year. Not only do we have to be skilled, we have to be able to work together which means I want only good attitudes that are willing to work to get the prize. We'll have enough opponents on game day, so we don't need an eighth player working against us."

"Ok man, we get the point. You don't have to test us for loyalty, the best is right here," said a fourth year gunning to make the team as he pushed to the front of the crowd.

"Well, since my message fell to your deaf ears, you can leave the field because you're not on the team, no matter if you're the best in the school or not. You're working against the team already." Said Teddy in an effort to prove he practiced what he preached.

The student, Gregory McLaggen slunk off the field in disgust and spit at the ground. "You'll be sorry. I am the best. And, you're lucky I'd be expelled if I hexed you," he drawled.

"Right, so, keepers at the goalposts, chasers at midfield, seekers can retrieve the overthrown practice Quaffles, and beaters can practice aiming bludgers over at the other goal posts. Begin," Teddy said as the crowd dispersed.

James covertly nodded at Albus before walking over to the beater line. As Albus was beginning to head over to the seeker line, Teddy came alongside him and casually said, " you know there's a seventh year on the team as seeker who's on of the best at our school, and that only three people are trying for keeper so far, right?" and just as casually gently nudged Albus' shoulder towards the goalposts, finally saying, "good luck."

Albus, realizing that the friendly tip was coming from the team's captain who would later be choosing the team, decided that his best bet was to try out as keeper. He even began to realize that he had only wanted to try out for seeker as his position because his dad had encouraged him to. In truth, Albus had played almost every position during the games held with his mother's side of the family the Weasleys. The only people who didn't play were the younger children and his Aunt Hermione, who instead cheered and refereed from the sidelines, yelling words of encouragement to Hugo when he played and especially Albus' Uncle Ron.

Albus knew the role of keeper in Quidditch and the strategies involved with Quidditch, but was unsure whether the chasers would throw the quaffle faster or if he was quick enough. In his heart, he had no preference, and only considered seeker superior because of his dad and the admiration of the position by others. But he knew that playing keeper meant an equally important role in the game and so, Albus joined the lineup of three potential keepers beside the goalposts. As he looked around, he noticed that the largest number of people at a position were trying out for seeker. This was significant since there was only one seeker while there were three chasers and two beaters. He figured that one factor in this was the fact that his dad was Hogwarts' hero and everyone wanted to emulate him.

The girl infront of Albus turned around and said, "You're a Potter, aren't you?"

"Sadly, yes," said Albus.

"I wouldn't say that to anyone else, the rest of the school tends to try and uphold your family name for themselves."

"Yes well, it becomes a little bit much sometimes, but my brother enjoys it."

"I've heard about him which means you're Albus, am I right?"

"Yes. Seeing as you know a fair bit about my family, may I ask who you are?"

"I'm Kate McLaggen. I apologize for not living under a rock and thus knowing of your family, but I hope it's consolation that my half brother Gregory was the one who was asked to leave earlier."

"That's interesting. My brother will be mailing my dad tonight about the incident that brother of yours had today. My dad and your dad apparently had some differences on the Quidditch pitch at school once upon a time."

"I'm sorry to hear that, seeing as your dad is Har-"

"Please don't say that. It wasn't a big deal, just some miscommunication in a game. It happens," James said just before Teddy blew his whistle to have the first keeper fly up and the first chaser grab a Quaffle to begin tryouts. "Well, good luck then," Albus said, and Kate turned around to be ready for when she was called to defend the posts. Albus hoped he hadn't unnerved her too much and that she would be willing to talk to him again, despite the differences between their parents.

Having been distracted for a bit, Albus turned to the other goal posts and saw that James was slacking off. While the other beaters were diligently hitting their balls and practicing their aim, James was goofing off with his friend Trevor and glancing at the girls in the stands. Albus was partly embarrassed for James but really didn't care. If he could land a spot on the team with James at least on the practice squad, he would demonstrate to James in his own way the value of caring and not treating everything so lightly.

It being Kate's turn as keeper now, Albus realized he should prepare himself to go next, but he waited and watched as Kate took the shots at the posts. It was different being almost directly below instead of in the air or in the stands, but Albus could see that she had good lateral movement and that she was fair competition. Suddenly, he realized she was flying away from the goalposts and that his turn was next. He hastily mounted his broom and shot up. Although he hadn't secured his pant legs in his socks and he faced more turbulence than he should have, he felt the soaring feeling that came with flying a broom and his confidence was boosted as he came to know that he had the abilities to do this.

With each shot by the chasers, Albus felt more satisfied with his playing. He missed only two shots in his round of 14 shots by all the chasers, one of which was Teddy's, who sometimes played chaser or beater depending on where the need was. When Albus returned to the line, Kate was smiling and offered him a hi-five. "You did great," she said.

"So did you, I think we managed to live up to our own expectations."

"Ya, well for a seeker's son, you did good. I thought you would have missed over half of them."

"That's strange. I thought you would've stopped all of them, being a keeper's daughter and all. And don't forget my mom is a chaser, so I really have no keeper genes."

"And yet, you beat me by one save."

"That last one of mine was lucky. I had no idea what I was doing. I probably looked like my Uncle Ron up there."

"You say our dads have a rivalry, but I've heard about your uncle and my dad. They really have some beef."

"Huh. I hadn't heard that. I'll have to ask him about it," said Albus.

"You wouldn't."

"Who knows. I'll tell my cousing Rose tonight to tell her daddy that McLaggen's son and daughter are at the school and that they're causing trouble. Uncle Ron is in a high position at the ministry and will have you and Gregory removed from Hogwarts."

"I call your bluff, Mr. Potter. He doesn't have that authority, and you don't have the guts to kick me out, but I guess you do have motive."

"Ya, you're right. And what would that be?"

"You're afraid, that I, a girl, will beat you for a place on the team."

"Whatever."


End file.
